BLOG: Ostrava's Economy tied to Portland's (Part III)
Sam Adams
Outside the train windows, the rural Czech countryside quietly whizzes by at 60 miles per hour.
Our destination of Ostrava is 3 hours away.
I am in one of 6 seats facing each other. In the seat in front of me and immediately across the isle, I am listening to Josef Husek, the Chief Executive Officer for Inekon, worry out loud for 30 minutes, non-stop.
“You sound very pessimistic,” I broke in.
“But these are real issues…,” he said, and continued on another verbal jag.
The train conductor announces “Pardubice” as the next stop.
Josef pauses to take a breath.
Leaning towards him, I launch, “Portland’s partnership with your company has been good for both 
you and us. We would like that to continue. I understand you have real concerns but you soon must come to a joint venture agreement with Oregon Iron Works or they will find another partner to build streetcars with, and we will look to buy from that new partnership…”
At the end of my harangue, he says, “I am trying.”
I shook my head, “You need to try harder; Oregon Iron Work speaks for itself in these negotiations, but my guess is that you have 30 days to get this done or they will go elsewhere.”
Josef quietly looks out the window.
I leave my seat. I figure I should let him stew on his own for awhile.
I have a “Coke Light” in the dining car; the countryside out the window looks a lot like the Willamette Valley.
I will have the opportunity for more conversations with Josef on this trip. But, based on our first talk, I feel dejected about the prospects of an Inekon/Oregon Iron Works joint venture deal.
At dinner later that night in the Atom Hotel dinning room with the Portland delegation from Portland Streetcar Inc., my host for this trip, Josef, said that I did not seem happy with our conversation on the train. I said that I was not.
He asked if we could talk more later in the evening. With jet lag barring down on me, I suggested we talk in the morning.
Posted by Sam Adams on October 30, 2005
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Filed Under Blog, Front Page, Jobs & Economy, Ostrava, Transportation
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